Nick Carroll, PhD

Metabolising caffeine into code

Connecting Nintendo Wii wirelessly to Apple Airport Express

with 63 comments

Connecting the Nintendo Wii to the Internet is quite easy, especially if you are connecting to an Apple Airport Express. However, if you don’t properly configure the Airport Express, then you will suffer slow downloads and constant timeout errors on your Wii. All you really need to do is configure the Airport Express so that the Channel option is set to 1 instead of Automatic in the AirPort tabbed page, then update the configuration of your Airport Express. Simple as that.

If you want to add security, then use WEP. Either 40 bit WEP or 128 bit WEP works with the Wii. Remember that 40 bit WEP requires a 5 character password key and the 128 bit WEP requires a 13 character password key. If you want to lock down your wireless network to a list of MAC addresses, then retrieve the MAC address of your Wii from the Internet settings, and add it to the Access Control of your Airport Express.

Written by Nick

April 15th, 2007 at 11:14 pm

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63 Responses to 'Connecting Nintendo Wii wirelessly to Apple Airport Express'

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  1. Thanks so much for this clear advice, it really helped me set up my Wii with my Airport Express.

    Isilya

    19 Apr 07 at 9:50 pm

  2. thanks for the useful and helpful information. was able to configure everything in a matter of a few minutes. thanks again

    e

    29 Apr 07 at 11:08 am

  3. And a note for young players, what Apple refers to as “40-bit” WEP *is* just the same thing as what everyone else calls 64-bit WEP. Just to add to the confusion ;)

    – Dave

    David Peterson

    3 May 07 at 10:28 pm

  4. Hey there. My friend uses a Mac with OS X, and I’ve got a windows based computer. He also uses two Airport Expresses, one upstairs connected to his modem, and another downstairs in order to increase the range of the wireless internet. His Wii doesn’t see the access point, so it won’t connect. He keeps getting the error codes 52030 and 52031, but the nintendo site advice doens’t help much.

    I’m about to explode with frustration, my Wii connected immediately with my Belkin wireless router. I tried to add his MAC address incase that was the problem..but I’m not sure how. This is so frustrating, I’m not sure what to do.

    I need help!

    Damon Heinen

    26 Jun 07 at 11:33 am

  5. Did you add the Wii’s MAC address to both Airport Express using the admin tool in OS X?

    Nick

    26 Jun 07 at 4:30 pm

  6. No, I didn’t try that. Next time I’m there I’ll give that a try. Thanks :)

    Damon Heinen

    27 Jun 07 at 10:40 am

  7. Thanks for posting this!

    Shaw

    22 Jul 07 at 2:28 am

  8. Thanks for posting this. You did a great job explaining it really clearly!

    Sam

    29 Jul 07 at 11:00 am

  9. I have been trying to set up my airport express connection with my wii since November. I called and talked to tech support a few times and they told me that wii doesn’t work with macs, because nobody uses macs anymore. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

    Brent

    10 Aug 07 at 7:18 pm

  10. I found the most important part was to use exactly the right length of WEP password. If your using 128-bit make sure your wireless password is 13 characters.

    John

    21 Oct 07 at 6:53 am

  11. I have an iMac, it’s my first mac. So I am still new to things. I still haven’t figure this out yet. Where is the admin tool so I can add the Wii’s MAC address?

    Justan Ross

    19 Dec 07 at 11:42 am

  12. Hey Justan, you should find the airport admin utility in your Utilities folder. You can also find it using spotlight by searching for “airport admin utility”. If you can’t find it then you may need to install it using the disk that came packaged with your airport express.

    Nick

    20 Dec 07 at 9:38 pm

  13. So where does one get a 13 char hex password from their Mac? I cant get my Wii on our 128bit WEP network at all. I’ve converted the passwd to HEX and no dice. Im thinking of just changing the security on all my airports or WPA2 AES tho I have no idea which is aes looking what apple calls them.

    simon

    23 Dec 07 at 12:06 am

  14. Simon, why do you have to convert your 13 character password to hex? Why not use ASCII?

    Nick

    23 Dec 07 at 12:18 am

  15. Is the Wii 802.11g or only 802.11b?

    Mark

    28 Dec 07 at 11:47 pm

  16. The Wii has a Mitsumi DWM-W004 WiFi 802.11b/g wireless module, so it supports both 802.11b and 802.11g.

    Nick

    29 Dec 07 at 6:55 pm

  17. Your info was quite helpful! I don’t suppose you could explain to me why the Wii is completely befuddled by my AirPort’s password?

    max

    1 Jan 08 at 3:44 am

  18. I’ve been trying to get my Wii to connect via Airport Express all day with no luck, my iMac and iPhone are both connected, although I did have to set fixed ip addresses to them as fro some reason the Airport Express kept giving them the same ones. With the Wii it sees my network I enter the WEP password (13 characters) and it tests the connection then gives me the 52030 error. It’s driving me mad, any suggestions?

    fra

    3 Jan 08 at 12:14 am

  19. You could try removing security from your Airport Express so that no password is required. This will allow you to verify that it is in fact a problem with your WEP password. Then enable security again after your testing is complete, and report back on your findings.

    Nick

    3 Jan 08 at 7:28 am

  20. fra, did you configure your Airport Express to use Channel 1? These channels have different WEP key slots, and the Wii is only compatible with the WEP key in Channel 1.

    For a more secure wifi network you should really be using WPA2 with a passphrase between 8 and 63 ASCII characters.

    Nick

    3 Jan 08 at 7:54 am

  21. I just checked my Airport Express is using Channel 1 (Automatic)

    fra

    3 Jan 08 at 9:04 am

  22. No how do I configure it to use Channel 1? I am using OS X 10.5 (Leopard)

    fra

    3 Jan 08 at 9:04 am

  23. No how do I configure it to use Channel 1? I am using OS X 10.5 (Leopard)

    fra

    3 Jan 08 at 9:04 am

  24. Ive changed my airport to channel 1, added my wii to my mac address, and have successfully browsed operah and used the wifi message board. yet when i attempt to play brawl online, it has to much lagg to do anything other than sending stages/pics and spectator mode.
    friend battles have too much lagg
    and random battles never find an opponent before i am dumped saying: connection to opponent was lost, returning to menu or something of the like.

    can anyone help me?

    patrick

    19 Mar 08 at 4:36 am

  25. I came upon this site looking to help my son connect his new Wii to our home wireless network (Mac’s running 10.4 connected via an Airport Extreme). I might suggest a relatively easy approach that I have found works. The main problem I found was in getting the correct password to allow the Wii to login to the Airport system. This password is in the Airport configuration file. Open the Airport Admin Utility in the Utility folder in Applications. Click on Configure and enter your password to open the menu. Go to the “Airport” page and click on the lock icon to open the box with the password. This box will say “to connect to the airport network created by this base station from a computer not using the airport software,” (this is the Wii) “you should use the following: Hex equivalent password (WEP key)” There will be an ~26 character password. You do not have to change security (128 WEP), channel (leave on automatic), or mode (leave on 802.11b/g). When connecting the Wii to the wireless network go to Wii settings, select “internet”, select “connection settings”, select a connection that says “none”, select “wireless connection” (this assumes you system is on), select “search for access point”, from the next page select your Airport system, it will then ask for the password. Enter the ~26 character WEP key password here. This should allow the Wii to access the Airport network like any other computer. From there on everything has seemed to work for us. Hope this helps any other first timers who are trying to sort out the Mac – Wii wireless connection.

    robert

    25 Mar 08 at 4:38 am

  26. Thanks so much for the help on this page! I kept wondering why it wouldn’t accept what I thought was the password…

    Pete

    28 Mar 08 at 1:49 pm

  27. Hello.
    I live in a college dorm room. and Ive got horrible lag… but i really cant fool around with any settings.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WfMjm6JFes

    Will an airport express help me?

    Zenjamin

    5 Apr 08 at 3:20 pm

  28. Hey Zenjamin, that is bad lag! I haven’t got a copy of Smash Bros to test for myself, so I don’t think I could be of much help at this point in time.

    Nick

    7 Apr 08 at 10:22 pm

  29. This might be a bad question! I have a new imac with a regular hi speed cable modem box for (Brighthouse Network). I’m looking at getting a Airport Express to connect to the Wii. Will this work? Or will I need a wireless router?

    Scott

    21 May 08 at 11:01 pm

  30. I can’t seem to get my Wii connected to the Internet.

    I have a Apple Base Station (Graphite) and have disabled all security.

    I don’t know how to add a MAC Address to my router. It that the problem??

    Russell

    1 Jun 08 at 7:34 am

  31. I figured out how to add the Wii’s MAC Address, but that was not the problem.

    Frustrating.

    Russell

    1 Jun 08 at 5:12 pm

  32. Scott, your setup sounds similar to mine. I connect my adsl modem to my Airport Express via USB, and use the Airport Express as a wireless router for my home network. So, yes it should work, and no you don’t need a wireless router.

    Nick

    1 Jun 08 at 5:22 pm

  33. Russell, I am not sure how to help you out with your problem. More details on your setup may help with diagnosing the problem though.

    Nick

    1 Jun 08 at 5:24 pm

  34. Okay, where should I start?

    I am looking for a solution. I would like all of the items listed below to seamlessly connect to the internet (using minimal devices):

    1) Desktop: Mac OS X, Intel Core Duo
    2) Laptop: Mac Book Pro, Intel Core 2 Duo
    3) Wii
    4) Modem: DSL high speed

    Before making any purchases, I would like to hear what would work. Than from there I would need to know how to setup all applications as well as security settings and updates etc…

    Any suggestion to where I should start?

    Sarah W

    8 Jun 08 at 11:32 am

  35. Hello???

    Sarah W

    18 Jun 08 at 11:37 am

  36. I would buy an Apple Airport Express and connect it to your DSL high speed modem. This will be your wireless network for which you can connect your Desktop, Laptop and Wii to. That is assuming you have a wireless card in your Desktop mac. Otherwise you will need a hub to connect to your Airport Express so that you can connect your modem and Desktop to.

    Nick

    18 Jun 08 at 11:18 pm

  37. thank you soooo much for the detailed info on wireless passwords and the Wii. saved me lots of frustration!!

    Dorothy

    20 Jun 08 at 5:20 pm

  38. Thanks so much for posting this info! You saved my night and you rock!

    Angie

    4 Jul 08 at 7:12 pm

  39. Ah! I hope this gets it sorted! Gonna fiddle with settings when I get home…

    Jeppers

    6 Jul 08 at 1:21 am

  40. Thank you, Roger! My 15-yr old has been bent out of shape getting his Wii to work with our Airport Extreme wi-fi network. I never really noticed the lock icon in Airport Utility. It works with OS 10.3.9 also.

    Karl

    8 Jul 08 at 1:09 pm

  41. A few months ago I tried connecting my Wii to our Airport Extreme (802.11g). The only setting I changed was the WEP from 40 to 128. The channel was (and is still) set to 1 (Automatic). For some reason, the day after I connected my Wii our wireless network just stopped working and we basically had to reboot the entire network. Ultimately what fixed the whole problem was switching back to the WEP-40.

    Now I wanted to try it again, with the WEP 40 settings, however I am worried about this all happening again since the network was down for over a day. What can I do to avoid it? Has problems like this been reported before?

    Alex

    12 Jul 08 at 5:11 am

  42. Ok i had my internet connected to my wii but one day my internet dropped with comcast annd my dad got on the phone and the guy on the phone told him to chaange some numbers so he did but now i have the new ip adress and everything it wont work please help i had it connected through airport

    Cameron

    4 Aug 08 at 7:32 am

  43. I have been trying to set my wii up to my airport express, but to no avail. I keep getting error code 51330 what do I do?

    charles

    12 Nov 08 at 11:46 am

  44. “If you want to lock down your wireless network to a list of MAC addresses, then retrieve the MAC address of your Wii from the Internet settings, and add it to the Access Control of your Airport Express.”

    HOw do I do this?

    m

    21 Nov 08 at 2:19 pm

  45. Just an addition to the comments above, after doing all of the suggestions above, it still wouldn’t work, even with security disabled. I found that I had to take the Airport out of bridging mode to get the Wii to connect, then I was able to use WPA2 security no problem, on channel 11.

    Brad

    23 Nov 08 at 4:16 pm

  46. I am trying to set up a network with my Apple Extreme (first version) and my G5 dual 2.0 (early release which can’t easily take an airport card) and a couple of MacBooks with airport cards. I have a Verizon USB727 modem and my G5 is connected to the Airport Extreme base with an ethernet cable (of which type I am not sure.) How can I establish the network?

    Thanks

    Bonner

    Bonner Smith

    23 Dec 08 at 4:09 am

  47. Thanks Robert, your March 24 posting solved the issue and connected WII to the internet.

    Carl

    Carl

    24 Dec 08 at 9:45 am

  48. Thanks Robert, your March 24 posting solved the issue and connected WII to the internet through Airport Extreme.

    Carl

    Carl

    24 Dec 08 at 9:45 am

  49. Dude, this is the best advice EVER. Thanks for helping me to set it up…

    Mark D.

    28 Dec 08 at 6:43 am

  50. Robert’s comments were spot on… after hrs of failed attempts…5 minutes and it was done!!!
    Thanks dude

    chris

    28 Dec 08 at 3:17 pm

  51. Looking for help from Nick or anyone who has had a breakthrough in this scenario. My configuration:

    - Original Airport (Graphite) Wireless router, set to WEP security, 6-charachter ASCII password
    - Any number of Macs, iPhones, iPod Touches successfully getting on the network with the 6-char password
    - Wii will not accept password; will not connect to Airport
    - Wii will connect to neighbor’s unprotected Linksys wireless router but signal is too weak to exploit
    - Confounding factor: AirPort Admin Utility for Graphite and Snow sees AirPort but Admin Utility returns error: “Unable to read configuration.”

    Arg! Please help!

    Wayne

    5 Jan 09 at 5:57 am

  52. ROBERT – You are the MAN! Dude i’ve been trying to do this since christmas… how the **** did you figure that out. anyway. thanks man.

    Nickolai

    18 Feb 09 at 10:36 am

  53. Here’s the mess I’m facing. Using Vista (I know, I know), I have internet access, the Wii can access the internet (weather, news channels etc.). Currently unable to print, though sometimes my backed up queue prints after I turn on Wii (??!!). When I go to Airport Express Utility, it doesn’t see my Airport Express, AND every page that I go to on the internet I get a message saying page can’t be found – when I hit “try again” it’s fine every time. I feel like I’m plugging holes in a fastly sinking boat.

    Justin

    11 Apr 09 at 5:04 am

  54. How can I put Internet on my Wii cuz I don’t have a AirPort Express on My computer and I don’t know the WEP Password to it. But I have the first 7 steps to the Manual Setup but I don’t know the WEP Password.

    Courtney

    21 May 09 at 11:21 am

  55. Hi Courtney,

    You’ll need a wireless router if you don’t have an Airport Express. The instructions for your wireless router should tell you how to configure the WEP password.

    Nick

    21 May 09 at 8:14 pm

  56. After hours of frustration this got me through. Actually I changed the channel option back to automatic when it didn’t work in channel one.

    For me the success came when I changed my password to 128 bit WEP and used exactly 13 characters. Then the Wii clicked right in. Thank you for the tip.

    Dennis Lee

    25 May 09 at 6:54 am

  57. I’ve managed to get the Wii to work with my AirPort Express n based network with WPA2 Personal protection set up on the basestation, and then choosing “WPA2-PSK (AES)” setting on the Wii. The channel Iäve set to 1, based on the recommendations. Works beautifully.

    Other equipment on the network is a older AirPort Express (g) for AirTunes music streamin, a couple of MacBooks, a PowerBook G4 and an iPod touch.

    The reason why I chose WPA2 was that I couldn’t get the older AirPort Express to join the network when the network was set to WEP.

    Frans

    27 Jun 09 at 5:56 pm

  58. I’ve been trying to connect my wii to my airport express and it seems everything is fine until it tests the connection. When it searches for the access point the signal is strong, but when I test for connection it says error code 52030. The Airport is on channel one and the security is set to WEP. I even entered the wii’s MAC address in timed access. I really feel like I’ve tried everything and nothing works. Bye.

    Jimmy

    4 Aug 09 at 2:49 am

  59. Thanks! The Channel = 1 and the 13 character WEP password was key to setting this up correctly.

    davetown

    6 Sep 09 at 12:22 pm

  60. Thanks for the info… No problems at all!!! ^_^

    zentotoro

    12 Sep 09 at 11:02 am

  61. does it connect your DS?

    Nehemiah I. Dacres

    8 Nov 09 at 5:26 pm

  62. This solution worked perfect once I changed the configuration of the airport (originally a closed network) and uncheck the option “create a closed network”. The Wii detected then the airport and connected smoothly since. Thanks a lot!

    Tana

    15 Nov 09 at 6:29 am

  63. The easiest way to connect my wii to my iMac was to disable the WEP encryption (unlock my access point). I don’t like the idea of having a “open hotspot” so I changed my WEP password. Thats when I discovered it was 6 characters long (1 too many for the wii). I changed it too a 13 character (128 bit) and it worked the first time.
    Make sure your WEP password is EXACTLY THE CORRECT LENGTH, 5 characters for 40 bit encryption or 13 characters for 128 bit encryption.

    Eddie

    27 Dec 09 at 7:29 pm

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